Renaissance Wedding Ceremonies

Incorporate ancient traditional elements into your Renaissance wedding ceremony, grounded in the history of the Romans, Celts, Scots, and Nords.

Outdoor Ceremonies

To have a Renaissance wedding ceremony, consider having your wedding out of doors. Most Medieval weddings were performed at the bride's home; it wasn't until the Renaissance that church became involved. The woods is a perfect place to have such a ceremony.

Handfasting

This Celtic tradition comes from the Medieval Period, when a couple who wished to wed had a trial period of a year and a day, during which time their hands were literally tied together. If they still liked each other after the trial period, they could go ahead and get legally bound to one another. Later on in Scotland and Northern England, handfasting was the word for engagement or betrothal that was symbolized by a small ceremony with the binding of hands.

Today's brides and grooms choose handfasting as a ritual to use during their modern, legal marriage ceremony. The couple can incorporate handfasting ceremony elements such as drinking from the same goblet or cutting a lock of each other's hair and placing it in a box. The ultimate symbol is when the priest or presider over the ceremony ties the couple's hands together with a piece of cord, symbolizing their devotion to one another as well as their unity and oneness throughout eternity.

Musical Processional

During the 14th and 15th centuries, there was much pomp and circumstance during the bridal processional. Minstrels and musicians led the processional playing instruments and singing songs. A young man carrying the bride-cup ( a silver chalise decorated with gold leafing and fresh rosemary for the bride and groom to drink out of), then the entire bridal party, at last followed by the bride.

Throwing Rice

For a Medieval/Renaissance wedding theme, rice definitely must be thrown at the end of the ceremony. Tossing rice into the air symbolized both wealth and fertile luck for the couple.

Wedding Gazette